I am sitting here all a lone wife baby sitting and i got thinging not to hard how lucky we are we got the nhs as we do not pay for ower meds as if we did have to pay for it not all of us would be able to get them thats why i said thank god we got the nhs and for the docters on it trying there best to sort us out with the right meds and that just a thought good night all

35 Replies

How right you are, David, god knows the cost of the treatment I've had from the NHS & without it I probably wouldn't have survived childhood. We're so, so lucky. But I worry for the future of the NHS. Good night, sleep well.

Good morning David12, you are right of course we are lucky, but for our doctors it is just a job they are trained for, their choice of vocation. If the system was not free from tax payers money then like other countries we would need medical insurance. For those of us who are chronically sick we would have to Choose between our health costs or things like cars, holidays, pets, mortgages, food and heating to name but a few, we would have to prioritise and maybe go without other things.Of couse a lot of people would not have jobs if it were not for NHS and the tax payers paying their wages. It is a complex topic but agreed people should be more appreciative of what we do have including those employed by the service. Thats How I see it anyway. Enjoy your new day, hope you slept well.

I so agree about how lucky we are with the NHS. Not perfect, of course, no health system anywhere in the world is. It is a dynamic process and there is constant development. And there are people who are concerned to work to make things work best: for instance tackle the problems raised by the big Pharma companies, emphasise preventative action, support those who are ignored and neglected.

This came home to me very forcibly on this forum a few months back when a man in America posted that he was waiting to see if his insurance would cover the cost of a V/Q scan. Brought me up sharp. A recent post here was asking about how often we have Spirometry tests, not that they would be expensive but none of those responding had to consider for a moment the cost of them. A friend has in the last year had two operations to instal endo-bronchial valves, she has now had four of them, and they are not working. Those valves cost £5000 each, add to that the cost of the theatre time, surgeons and staff, ICU beds, and cost in the future of proposed lung volume reduction surgery. And then her frequent stays in hospital for exacerbations.

If you want some insight into the US healthcare system do watch Michael Moore's film Sicko. It really brings home how lucky we are to have the NHS and how we must keep it out of becoming overtaken by profit making companies.

The thing is, david, that when you have lung problems it can put a strain on your heart - makes it work harder than it wants to. The good thing is that if they find that there are heart problems and treat them, we do feel better! Might only mean taking one or two extra tablets a day.

What you have to remember is we have all paid for it since it started, and if we go abroad we don't get it free so WE have to have insurance. it's like a shop everyone has to pay for the goods. The government in all their wisdom CAN'T see that.

Good morning David, and everyone else..... I agree immensely with your post of how lucky we are at having The NHS.

I'm now retired and I now battle with over 25 medical conditions, some which were wrongly diagnosed in my adolecscent years. I truly believe that if it wasn't for the care of the NHS I would no longer be here. I have many aquaintences on other social media sites who also battle some of the conditions I have, and need to wait for authorisation from Medical Insurance companies for treatment.

I know if I had to rely on medical insurance to facilitate the basic care deliverance to enable me to fight another day, my fight for another day would of ended a very long time ago.

I understand people's perception that the NHS is abused by some and that many who receive NHS have contributed to the health problems they now have, and rely on the NHS to take care of them. I do think it's wrong to be judgemental on those who have abused there bodies, as many of them have also paid there taxes and National Insurance contributions.........who are we to state who can and who can't access medical care for health conditions which have arisen.

My mother in the 1970s cooked with Lard, and later in life she developed heart problems and had 3 heart attacks, but you wouldn't say she shouldn't be treated as she abused her body by cooking with Lard.

Many of us deal with the unknown effects that various lifestyle choices have led to, The NHS was designed for everyone at the point of need.

I have stage 3 Emphysema with 40% lung function, I was also diagnosed aged 12 with Asthma, this was based on the fact that my late fathers brother had Asthma as a child and developed a hump on his back through coughing, I now know that this was not the case and in fact the hump was caused by a genetic autoimmune disease that my two sons and I have.

I remember as a child both my parents smoked, both my grandfathers smoked and one smoked a pipe, I also stupidly at the age of 12 thought it was cool to smoke and did so.

The dangers of smoking, along with other lifestyle choices and the impact that it can / would have in later life was medically not connected in my adolescent years, many of us now know and live with the consequences.

I also agree that the big pharmaceutical companies play a huge part in monies wasted within the NHS and it's various multidisciplinary departments. I have been watching the programme on BBC1 "The Dr who gave up drugs" it highlights the way in which huge amounts of money being spent on prescribed medication and how many are given out as a quick fix.... I think it's time our government stepped in and devised a pharmaceutical department within the NHS, taking the power away from those who are really abusing the NHS by dictating the cost of meducations.

I firmly feel that there is probably a cure for most conditions, even possible Cancer, but due to the amount of monies pharmaceutical companys make on the back of the various conditions it will never be available.

I so agree with you mutt1 especially about not being judgmental. Are we to deny treatment to anyone who's ever smoked, or is overweight, or doesn't exercise enough, or drinks more than the government-recommended amount of alcohol, or has taken "legal highs" etc? I wouldn't want to live in that sort of society. The NHS has to be for all, as originally intended.

I thank god every day for my life and my health and our wonderful NHS ,you might wonder why I thank god for my health ( as it's not good ) but i see many people with far worse health conditions than mine ,,

An excellent post mutt 1. You summed up my feelings so succinctly. I am certainly grateful to the NHS, of course it has it's faults but what bureaucracy doesn't? I know what it costs me at the vets to treat my pets & that clearly pales into comparison with treating people.

I understand what people mean about not treating "self-inflicted" health problems but where do you draw the line? Accidents caused by playing sports, you choose to play them. Car accidents, you choose to drive, etc etc. It would get very silly & even more bureaucratic with the number of staff required to determine who was & who was not entitled. We should not be judgemental, like Hanne 62 I would not want to live in that sort of Totalitarian regime.

Yeah, I know living here in the US I worry about what would happen if I could not work and pay my insurance. I wish we had your system. The Obama care just made it worse for a lot of my family members that we're having to pay their own insurance. It jumped to 5 times the cost. My brother is paying almost $800 a month just for himself and we will get fined if we do not have insurance. I am a single parent and taking care of everything on my own was not easy and we did without a lot. But we were happy. I am really worried about the number of refugees coming in right now though because they are one group that gets free housing, health care and help. Sometimes I feel like our upper class has forgotten about us middle class folks and just keep expecting us to foot the bill and do without. I believe that is why Trump is doing so well in the elections even though he says so many wrong things. He at least calls them out on what they are doing. I noticed that people in the upper class of both parties seem to be trying everything they can to stop him-I wonder if anything will. A lot of people want him to go all the way-We'll see. Sorry I seem to ramble at times. Next time I'll pick a happier subject.

Please don't get me wronge but it is hard to watch the person in front of me at a grocery store use government free money to buy food I could not afford to buy to feed my own family ehile working two jobs many times. I just want it to be fair. Because currently Middle Class taxes are funding all those government programs that tack care of the immigrants and we are truely struggling especially those who are single parents because they tax single head of house more than married heads of house. Sorry I do not mind helping others but the numbers are just to great and they just announced 500,000 more-who's going to pay for them all?

Dont blame the immigrants for the sins of the government. Conservatives have a problem with the NHS because they believe private provision must always be better than state provision, and the NHS shows that its not. So they take away funds so that the service will deteriorate, people will get angry and complain. So they can suggest privatisation as the solution! Its only the gratitude we feel to the NHS that make them act furtively. Left to themselves, they'd have us under the US system in 5 minutes.

Yes we are all very lucky to have the NHS but we do pay towards it with NI contributions but sadly the NHS seems to be paddling like mad to keep it's head above water.

I have seen many changes and not all for the good, the worst was when matrons were done away with and managers were brought in to replace them. They had no idea how hospitals worked.

We also have in every hospital up and down the country time wasters or people who don't even bother to turn up to appointments. Then the cost of drugs and the amount of drugs that are wasted I pay for a pre paid prescription charge £104 per year it's a big saving.

Like #@onamission the changes that I too have seen are of a disappointing nature. The waste of money in things like cardboard / paper mache urine bottles, sick bowls and bed pans...in my time it was a good old stainless steel items which we emptied into a sluice, and the bedpans ect were placed into a autoclaves and sterilised. I'm sure this went someway into reducing the risk of cross infection. Now the whole item is put into a masher, if this breaks down then we would have to put the items in a yellow incinerater bag, which cost the NHS £100.00 per ton to incinerate, this is left for at least 12-24-36 hours before its full enough to dispose of. This in my mind increased the level of contamination and the crossing of infection. The cost of just this alone must bite a good chunk out of the NHS budget.

Other areas of monetary waste are the initial progress for diagnosis of any conditions, you go to see the GP, he then sends you for some blood tests, you wait for the results, yet another Drs appointment just to have the results, then upon the results you then have to wait for the GP to refere you to the relevant department for further investigation, you arrive at your appointment, within this process it has taken a consultants secretary to initiate the appointment, this then initiates the people in medical records to source you medical file and ensure it is ready for the consultant to view on the day of your appointment, you arrive at your appointment, you check in with the reception staff, you then are seen by either a staff nurse or a Healthcare assistant, who weighs you and if needed asks for you to produce a specimen of wee wee, then you go in to see the consultant, and you then have to give them a descriptive account of what your complaint is. Then it's decided that further investigation is needed.......by this time at least 12 weeks have passed, unless your complaint comes under the two week rule. During this time you may have been unable to work, so this now has an impact on your employment status, your off sick and they have to temporary fill your role, then if you are off longer than your boss likes, you may get the sack.....this then has an impact on the DWP as by this time it may require you to claim benefits, where your frowned upon and treated like dirt, and this is through no fault of your own. Outpatients appointments also cost a huge amount, medical records personnel, receptionist, Nurse, consultant. You havnt even been diagnosed by this point, never mind received any treatment.

I'm sure by now you are all thinking doesn't she go on!!! and I really could,

Surely there are better ways in reducing this excessive cost, and time. I do think it should be that if you have an appointment no matter if it's the dentist, GP, hospital, ect and you fail to attend, a charge of £20.00 should be levied against you. This at least will help the NHS to recoup much needed monies.

I'm sorry to go on, but I am passionate about the NHS as a very heavier user of our NHS services.

Once again an excellent post. I fully agree a charge should be levied for unjustified failure to attend. The powers that be would probably argue that it would not be cost effective, given their stance on recouping money from overseas users of the NHS, who leave the UK without paying for their treatment.

It really needs a "czar" to go in & seriously look at waste & ways to save money without detriment to the service.

Maybe if you are a resident of another country and you visit the UK, you pay a nominated amount prior to visiting. The payment could be seen as a probationary payment if there is a possibility that you may need to receive medical treatment, based on current health problems. which could be held in a NHS external fund account and if no medical assistance is needed you are then refunded the probationary payment. If that person needed to access medical services, upon admission you have to surrender your passport, and a reciept to show you have made a probationary payment, then the reciept could be stamped either to state that you did, or did not access medical care. I know when I spent time in the canaries if you attended a healthcare facility you had to show your passport and EHIC card.

I understand that some may say what about the cost, but I also think if you are affording a travel surely you could afford a probationary payment.